Editorial: The worst brought out our best

The storm early Tuesday morning didn’t last real long — the worst of it seemed to come and go in about 90 seconds.

That said, there will be long-lasting effects of the devastating storm. Our landscape has been forever changed, as what seems like thousands of trees are now gone.

The more lasting effect, though, will be on our spirit. As odd as this may seem to say, the storm helped with that.

Shortly after the storm passed by, we saw Hastings residents running around their lawns with flashlights. They surveyed the damage in the dark. Then, at daybreak, the whirring of chainsaws broke the post-storm silence. The astonishing thing was that, in so many cases, the saws were being operated by neighbors, friends, relatives and strangers.

While work was well under way to take care of the mess, Hastings businesses were pitching in as best they could. Cub Foods gave away free ice. Others called the police department to offer their help.

Fellow residents raided convenience stores to get coffee for their helpers, leaving many stores scrambling to fill the demand. Ham sandwiches were served in backyards, enjoyed by helpers who were covered in sweat and sawdust.

All throughout town, people were helping out in ways too numerous to mention.

We must say that what we have seen is inspiring. Our City of Hastings staff was quickly mobilized, and they began clearing roadways. The fire department was busy, as was the police department.

They report that they saw no shortage of great assistance from our fine residents.

“People were incredibly decent, and good to each other, despite the fact that they had just sustained a lot of loss,” Chief of Police Paul Schnell said. “It’s always amazing when things like this happen — you see people come together and take care of each other.”

We are happy to report nobody was seriously injured in any of the activity, which we see as nothing short of miraculous. Somehow, as what seems like thousands of trees fell in 90 seconds, nobody was hurt. What a relief.

Now we can all turn our attention to fixing our city back up, and we are confident this will not be hard for our residents to accomplish.

After all, what we’ve seen in the 36 hours gives us all kinds of hope for our city and for its residents.

Tags: opinion, hastings, minnesota, spiral, local, editorials